On The House

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On this Mother’s Day, I give thanks for a mom who was and still is fearless about new adventures
— from learning to paint with oils, both on canvas and on houses, to taking up the challenge to
write a weekly newspaper column, which she has been doing for almost 50 years.

She will travel anywhere, as is evident by her decision to move from northeastern Ohio, where
she has lived her entire life, to a home in South Carolina near my sister and her family. And Mom
is undaunted by new challenges around the house.

She reupholstered furniture to save money and family heirlooms, inspiring my wife and me to do
the same. She stripped wallpaper and paint. She stood on ladders to paint ceilings and walls, often
giggling about some minor blunder or the paint speckles that turned her red hair prematurely
gray.

She inspired me and gave me fearlessness when tackling remodeling projects, and I have passed
that to my children, who carry their grandmother’s confidence into their own home projects. So,
today, my daughters and I salute my mother for being a role model for us all.

Unusual paint stripper

After my most recent column, about stripping paint from the woodwork in our front hallway, I
heard from Tom Prieto of the Olde Towne East neighborhood. His ancestor built my house 143 years
ago, and he has come up with a way to strip paint that I can’t wait to try. (Note: It is one that
requires patience.)

“I have lived in Olde Towne East for 32 years in an 1892 brick foursquare,” he wrote in an
email, “and stripping the woodwork is one of my current projects.

“I wanted to share my stripping experience and prejudice gained over 35 years as an industrial
education teacher and home-repair person. In the process that is working well in this house, I wipe
off the dirt and dust, put duct tape on the piece, leave it alone for a week or weeks, and, when
pulled off, the tape takes 80 to 95 percent-plus of the paint.”

Tom said he came up with this idea after remembering that, years ago, a landlord had admonished
him not to put tape on the woodwork because it would pull off the paint.

After pulling off most of the paint with tape, Tom said he removed the remaining paint and
residue with scrapers and an alcohol wash that dissolves the shellac.

“The finish quality of the wood is as it left the mill, with no raised grain.”

May: A special month

May is both National Home Improvement Month and Historic Preservation Month, and they are one
and the same at my house.

Home Improvement Month was declared by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, and
tips and details are available at
www.nari.org.

This year’s theme for preservation month — “See! Save! Celebrate!” — is designed to shine a
spotlight on each community’s distinct historic places. Find more information at
www.preservationnation.org. And
follow along on Twitter with the hashtag
#presmonth.

We celebrate in May the opportunity to own a historic house — one built, ironically, by a
newsman in 1870. And while we have lived in it for almost 21 years and do our best to maintain and
decorate it to make ourselves comfortable, our hope is to leave it in good shape for the next
generation

That reminds me: Now that the weather is consistently pleasant, it’s time to get cracking on my
long list of outdoor chores in celebration of this special month.

Alan D. Miller is a Dispatch
managing editor who writes about old-house repair and historic preservation.